Death Comes for the Doctor
by Dr Metuza
Summary: How many times can the Doctor cheat Death before he catches up with him? The Eighth Doctor finds out and must find a way to live on. 8 and 9. Please R and R
1. Part 1 The Trials of a Time Lord

The Trials of a Time Lord

Featuring the 8th Doctor and Jamie

"Look out!" the Doctor screamed as he pushed Jamie down to the floor of the TARDIS, dodging a laser blast.

"YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED. YOU ARE THE ENEMY OF THE DALEKS. EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" The words filled the cloister room of the TARDIS as the Doctor slowly arose.

"What do we do now, Doctor?" asked Jamie, rubbing the pain out of his right arm

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it can't be in the control room, the Daleks seem to have cordoned off that part of the ship" the Doctor said, half thinking to himself.

"EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" Immediately the Doctor and Jamie were reminded of the situation at hand.

"Right! Run!" the Doctor yelled, pulling Jamie with him down the hall into the dressing room.

"Damn!" yelled the frustrated Doctor.

Jamie locked the door then began pacing around the room, thinking of a plan.

"Now you say that they got in through the temporal flux thing, right?" Jamie asked.

"Yes. The temporal flux capacitor" the Doctor answered, sitting Indian style with his face resting in his palms.

"They can't fly the TARDIS, right?" Jamie continued.

"Not yet, anyway. The Daleks have incredible adaptive skills. The access codes will only hold them for a little while"

"How long?"

"About 2 hours I should say." The Doctor said, pondering his options.

"Well that should give us enough time to…"

-"To do what?" the Doctor angrily interrupted. "It's no use. If the EMP field couldn't stop them, nothing will." The Doctor looked grim as he stood up, adjusting his cravat. "There is…one option…" he said low and with a severe look on his face.

"What's that?" Jamie said, ever the optimist.

"The Compression Generator"

"How do you mean, Doctor?" asked a bewildered Jamie.

"I can control the dimensions of the TARDIS from the Compression Generator. Perhaps I can depressurize the control rooms…"

"But that would mean-"

"I know, the TARDIS would be immobile" interrupted the Doctor. But right now it is our only chance at getting out of here alive." The Doctor's voice always carried with it a dignified urgency, and now was no different. He grabbed his sonic screwdriver and made for the door.

"I think he's gone" Jamie whispered. The Doctor nodded and opened the door.

The two ran down the hallway to a dark, poorly lit sector of the ship that held the engines and maintenance items for the TARDIS. Half the machines were either broken or had a note written by the Doctor on it explaining how to jury rig it to work.

"Oh dear, this is going to be a bit harder than I thought" said the Doctor, surveying the problem.

"Aye, and we better hurry before the Daleks find us" Jamie said as he stood guard of the Doctor, who bent under the engine device to begin his work.

Jamie McCrimmon is an interesting man. He traveled with the Doctor's second incarnation, only to have his memory wiped and returned to earth. Then the Doctor, still in his second incarnation, obtained permission from the Time Lords to bring him back, with his memories. Then they said their farewells as the Doctor regenerated and Jamie was sent back to earth. After Grace left the Doctor, now in his eighth incarnation, The Doctor adventured with Romana. After the Shada event, the Doctor was granted permission by the Time Lords to go back and pick one companion to accompany him on his adventures. After much thought, Jamie McCrimmon was called back to duty. Merely weeks after their reunion, the Doctor and Jamie were attacked by Daleks. That brings us up to date on our story.

"That should do it…" the Doctor said as he arose with a keyboard in his hand. "One push here….another there…" he said to himself.

CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNCH

The TARDIS was closing in on itself and the Doctor knew he had little time to escape. His thoughts went to how Jamie would die also. One possibility that always crossed his mind was that one of his companions would die on a dangerous adventure. That occurrence was one he could never live with. For that reason, he had the Time Lords install a recall micro chip in Jamie that would immediately take him back to his time if anything happened to him. The Doctor now realized, as the walls began bending under their own weight and the sound of warped metal filled the room, that he needed to say goodbye to Jamie.

"Goodbye, Jamie" the Doctor said as he pulled out a small remote control.

"What do you mean, Doctor? You're not makin' any sense! We're gonna get through this-" Jamie didn't finish as the Doctor pressed the button and he disappeared into thin air.

The air in the TARDIS was thin, now that the ship was rapidly decompressing. The sounds of Daleks screaming in agony could be heard all over the ship and the Doctor stood, staring blankly, pondering death.

Death. He cheated it so many times that he took it for granted. Now the stark realization of the mortality of man struck him hard. His opinion of death was one of acceptance, and avoidance. He viewed death as a natural part of life, but never wanted to think deeper than that on it. Now it was here. Death was upon the Doctor and there was nothing he could do.


	2. Part 1, Ch 2 The Trials of a Time Lord

The Trials of a Time Lord

Chapter Two

_Author's Note: I know this is a little weird. Bear with me it will make a lot more sense by chapter 3 or 4. All will be explained. Thank You for your reading!_

Everything was dark. All was quiet. No more metal warping, no more Daleks screaming in pain. No more anything.

"Is this death?" thought the Doctor.

In the background an inaudible noise could be heard, tearing through the solemn silence of the abyss. It grew clearer, as if it were moving toward the Doctor. After a short time, the unmistakable laugh of the Valeyard was heard, mocking Death and the Doctor.

"Did you really think it would be that easy, Doctor? You think Death would be so kind as to let you walk away from pain instantly? After you cheated Him so many times?" the Valeyard began.

"Where is this place and how did I get here?" the Doctor demanded.

The Valeyard met his questions with scornful laughter. "Always the realist, aren't you, Doctor. You are everywhere yet you are nowhere."

"What kind of answer is that? I demand to know what you are doing here." The Doctor yelled into the abyss.

The Valeyard laughed and slowly faded into the void. The Doctor felt around for a barrier and found a wall on the far side of the room. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an apple which he was saving for lunch and hurled it into the wall. The room suddenly filled with light and blinded the Doctor. When he opened his eyes he saw that he was now on a serene beach, alone at twilight.

He looked around his surroundings, trying to get his bearings, but before he could gather any valuable info he was confronted with the voice of the Valeyard again.

"Where is the TARDIS?" asked the Doctor

"You should know, Doctor. After all, you are the one that destroyed it. Remember?" answered the Valeyard.

The Doctor pondered for a moment and remembered decompressing the TARDIS. Then he quickly postulated a theory.

"That's it! I'm hallucinating! It's the air in the TARDIS, its too thin. I must think of a way to-" the Doctor was interrupted.

"There really is no point in fighting the facts, Doctor. The TARDIS is gone."

"Then why am I still alive?" the Doctor asked. "I can't be dead. I can see, touch, feel pain."

"You may not be dead, but you also are not alive." Responded the Valeyard.

"All I get is cryptic answers out of you! Just be quiet unless you have something substantial to say; and come out of hiding for goodness sake!" the Doctor screamed into the lonely horizon.

None of this was making any sense to the Doctor. He knew he was in some kind of place, and he knew he wasn't dead. The Doctor knew he had to answer three questions before he could start thinking of how to escape. Why is he here, Who brought him here, and how did he get here. The Doctor reached into his pocket for the remote control TARDIS materialiser chip and pressed it, not really expecting anything to happen.

The woosh of the TARDIS was never more welcome than at that moment, as the Doctor saw the familiar blue box appear along the coast line. He quickly ran to it, inserted his key, and entered. When he walked through the antechamber he was immediately transported to another strange locale.

The Doctor noticed that he was not in the TARDIS, but was walking through the jungles of Deraubus, a planet near Gallifrey where the first battles between the Time Lords and other races was fought.

The Doctor walked through the jungles, which had been overgrown for years, and noticed that there were Time Lord battle helmets still intact on the ground; remnants of wars long ago.

The Doctor was not surprised to hear the voice of the Valeyard again.

"Death is the great enemy of the universe, Doctor, not even we Time Lords could retard its path."

"I can't say that I'm enjoying my tour of the universe much, Valeyard" said the Doctor, trying to lighten the mood. "What is the point of all this anyway?" The Doctor asked, strolling down a clear path in the jungle, occasionally fiddling with foliage.

"Death is angry, Doctor. He wants his revenge and there is nothing you can do to stop it…"

_Okay, still a little foggy, but stick around._


	3. Part 1, Ch 3 The Trials of a Time Lord

Death Comes for the Doctor

Part One: The Trials of a Time Lord

Chapter Three

Author's note: This one will start to make sense after the next two chapters. Hope you're enjoying it!

"Death is angry, Doctor. He wants his revenge and there is nothing you can do to stop it…"

The Valeyard began again to laugh before being interrupted by the Doctor, who picked up a helmet off the ground and examined it.

"What does this "Death" fellow want from me? This seems like a rather roundabout way to exact revenge. Isn't torture the usual modus operandi? Or maybe just execution straight away? Or maybe he wants some sort of humiliation." The Doctor started irreverently.

"Now you are getting somewhere, Doctor. You see, Death is just; He wants to give you an opportunity to make amends for your transgressions against his laws."

"Transgressions? How do you mean, Valeyard?"

"The transgressions of your people must be accounted for. They attempted to escape Death's inevitable victory by harnessing the power of time travel. But that was not enough! No! You had to frustrate death by renewing your weak bodies when he draws closest!" The Valeyard's voice increased in volume and ferocity as he spoke.

"Your people? Don't you mean "our" people?" the Doctor interjected, suspect of the identity of his captor.

After a short pause, the Valeyard responded.

"I am not the Valeyard. I am merely using your mental image of him as a medium for communication."

"Why him?" the Doctor asked, bewildered.

"Because he is the purest form of evil in your mind."

"Evil? I thought Death was just" the Doctor mockingly replied.

"Your evil is my good, Doctor" the Valeyard's response triggered something in the Doctor. He wasn't sure what it was, but then it struck him.

"Sutekh? I thought you were-" the Doctor began before being interrupted.

"The one you called Sutekh is merely a pawn in my hands. Servant of the almighty Death! Now the time has come for you to pay for your crimes, Doctor!"

The jungle of Deraubus began to fade around the Doctor and the Valeyard's familiar cackle was also beginning to disappear.

"No! Wait!" the Doctor plead, still attempting to extract information from the imposter.

The Doctor was then transported again. This time he was in a dark, damp cave. All he could hear was dripping and pattering of water against the rock, until the Valeyard's voice once again echoed throughout the cave.

"Seven times you have wronged Death, and seven times you must face him. So begins the game of death…"

The words stuck in the Doctor's head for awhile and he was able to conclude a couple things. One, the captor knew much about him, if not only for the knowledge of his seven regenerations, and two, he seemed ready to answer one the big three questions he said he needed to answer before formulating an escape. Who brought him here? Death apparently was the answer.

"Whoever this Death character is, I need to find a way to see him" the Doctor thought to himself. Before he could ponder any longer, his silent meditation was disturbed by the spine tingling roar of a Romax (a large bear-like animal that stands 8 foot tall and is a major carnivore). The Doctor quickly got up and ran, searching for the nearest exit. He saw light and sped down the corridor, only to be met with the face of the hungry beast, blocking the exit.

"Well, I cant bust my way through…" he began thinking.

"Is that what I think it is? Perfect!"

He noticed that the beast was standing under a large buttress which held back a few big loose rocks. He fumbled around in his pockets and pulled out his trusty sonic screwdriver. With a few adjustments he was able to find the harmonic resonance of the buttress.

"A ha! If I can tune this to the frequency of the electron motion I can…"

CRASHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Instantly the buttress came crashing down, bringing with it the fury of 1000 pounds of rock, landing squarely on the head of the Romax, killing it. The Doctor sighed in relief and sat back on a fallen rock, wiping his brow.

"Is that the best you've got, Death?" The Doctor scorned.

A large flash of light filled the room and blinded the Doctor. After a moment the Doctor regained his senses and felt around.

"Sand?" he thought.

"Oh, no…"

He was in the middle of a desert, right under the midday sun. The Doctor was baking as he franticly ran forward, looking for an oasis. After a couple hours of walking, the Doctor collapsed in the sand, the hot sun blazing.

"You cannot escape me, Doctor, no one ever has…"

_Okay, stay tuned for Chapter Four. Can the Doctor escape certain doom and win the game of Death?_


	4. Part 2 Is There a Doctor in the House?

Death Comes for the Doctor

Part One: The Trials of a Time Lord

Chapter Four

_Author's Note: Things will get a little more fun in this chapter. Bear with me. Will feature 1 and 6(Doctors)_

"So what is the deal with you, anyway, Doctor?" Ben rudely asked the Doctor (first Doctor) in his cockney accent.

"What was that, my boy?" the Doctor answered, tapping his cane against the TARDIS floor, causing a loud crack to resonate throughout the control room.

"I mean, what is it with you? I mean one minute you are huffing and puffing acting like you're 95 years old, and the next you are saving the world with your "powers". Ben continued.

The Doctor took a seat in his favorite Victorian chair, sighed, and responded, slowly and calculated, with a tone of annoyance.

"Did it ever occur to you that the two are related? If it weren't for you and your kind constantly sticking their nose where it shouldn't belong, I wouldn't have to save the world every other moment!" the Doctor got quite heated before collecting himself.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I am quite tired and I require rest…" The Doctor got up and walked away, but halfway out the room, he turned around and faced Ben.

"I'm sure you will find a satisfactory answer to your question in the future…"

At that moment, Polly, who just finished washing her hair, entered the control room, brushing her still moist hair and addressed Ben.

"My, what was that about?" she said jokingly.

"Its just that, well, do you ever wonder about the Doctor? You know, his bein' alien and all?"

"Well, 'course I do, but not knowing is half the fun!"

Ben scoffed at her remark and continued,

"I just, I don't know about his stability. In the last month or so, he really has been getting tired more easily. I'm beginning to think his health is failing."

"Oh, I'm sure he is fine. I bet its all some elaborate scheme to make you look bad." Polly finished with a giggle before a loud thud was heard, like something, or someone, hitting the ground. They both looked at each other then rushed to the Doctor, who was on the floor in the middle of the hallway, clearly in pain.

"You alright, Doctor?" Ben asked as he held his hand out.

"Does it look like I'm alright, boy? Help me up!"

Ben and Polly each took an arm and lifted him up, Ben handing him his cane. The Doctor looked concerned.

"Something is wrong with me…" he said, putting a hand on his chin.

"Well we can tell that much, what is the problem?" Ben said impatiently

"No, not me…but ME"

Ben and Polly looked at each other, confused, and Ben turned to the Doctor

"How do you mean, Doc?"

The irascible octogenarian's face was turning red again and he began to huff and puff.

"I've no time to spare with explanations that will be wasted. I am in need of a few things"

"What do you need, Doc, I'll get it for ya" Ben replied.

"My sonic screwdriver, a Cartusian wingnut, a flux capacitor, and a spot of tea, now be a good boy and fetch them for me, will you?" the Doctor authoritatively issued.

Ben sneered and headed off down the hallway for the supply room and Polly followed. The Doctor stood over the TARDIS console, inclining his ear to the center column, listening to its strained noises, indicating engine trouble.

"Don't worry, old girl, I know how we can fix this" the Doctor whispered, patting the center column.

Sixth Doctor8

"Ugh, Doctor, can't we take a break, we've been looking for the perfect fishing spot for 5 hours" grumbled Peri as she shuffled into the console room, carrying the majority of the supplies. The Doctor carried his fishing rod and a lunch pale, which he promptly handed to Peri, who sneered at the Doctor when he turned his back.

"Nonsense; rest is for the weary, and sleep is for the dead! There is still plenty of time left in the day" pontificated the Doctor, who took a quick glance at his binary wrist watch.

"Well can we at least eat some food? I'm starving" said Peri, grabbing her stomach as she let the gear fall to the ground.

"My dear Peri, I should hope that you of all people should be mindful of how much food you intake; besides, we have already eaten today!" the Doctor said, leaning one hand on the console and the other on his hip.

"What is it with you Time Lords and your 2 meal days!? I have been carrying heavy equipment all day and I will NOT go on anymore 'expeditions' until I have some food. Do you understand, Doctor?"

The Doctor looked like he knew he was mistaken. His face taking on an apologetic smile, the Doctor bargained with Peri.

"No. You're right. It has been a long day. What would you say to a nice, juicy, medium rare- Peri's face glowed with brighter excitement with each passing adjective until- Thraxin Otter!" finished the Doctor

"Eww, that sounds like something that would get stuck in a motor boat" Peri whined as she grimaced in disgust.

"Would a cheeseburger suffice?" The Doctor said, in a patronizing tone.

"Thank you, Doctor. See I knew we could come to a reasonable compromise." Peri said wryly as the Doctor disappointingly dialed the coordinates.

The TARDIS shook and rumbled with her usual inconsistent consistency and came to a stop with a slight squeal.

"Earth, 1986" The Doctor announced as he opened the view screen

"Benny's Burger Shack, Cincinnati, Ohio, to be more precise." He clarified.

"Ok, let me wash up. I'll be right with you, Doctor."

The Doctor stood around and waited with a small smile on his face and his hands in his the pockets of his multi-colored coat. He fiddled with his cat lapel badge when he thought he heard something faint in the background.

"Help……………me……" the weak male voice repeated.

"You………….must…..help…….ourselves……" The voice joined what seemed to be a chorus of other voices that seemed strangely familiar to him.

"What! What is that? I can't make it out!" the Doctor yelled, oblivious to the presence of Peri, who was becoming more concerned with each ignored invocation. Finally she slapped him hard across his face and he came to his senses.

He shook his head to flush the pain away and turned to Peri.

"It was me, Peri, all of them, They are in danger…" he said, addressing Peri, but said mainly for himself.

"I thought you already helped your formal self, you know, with Jamie?"

"No, this is different somehow…" The Doctor pondered, quickly running the most likely possibilities through his head.

"It's probably that you're too hungry; let's get some food and then see what to do." Peri said. She pulled the Doctor, who was still preoccupied with thought, out of the TARDIS and into the restaurant.

The burger joint was an average middle American restaurant of the 1980s: Arcade machine in the back with 4 or 5 pre-teens huddled around it, Bon Jovi playing on the radio, too much denim for anyone's good, and those terrible leg warmers. The Doctor continued to look dazed as he took his seat.

A man of about 30 with balding hair and glasses came over and took the order.

"My name is Bill, I'll be your server today. If I can have a moment of your time, our deal of the day is-"

"William, if I may, my time is worth more then anything you,or anyone on your planet can possibly conceive, now I would appreciate if you stop wasting it and get me and my friend some water" interrupted the Doctor irritably.

Bill's eyes were still wide and his jaw was still dropped as he stumbled his way back to the island in the kitchen to get the drinks.

"Doctor, why on Earth would you act like that?" Peri said annoyedly.

The Doctor looked confused. "I..don't…know….I became very thirsty all of a sudden…"

"Not to mention crabby" Peri added.

"Yes…I haven't been like that since….well….my first…." The Doctor sputtered off, going into thought. It was his first incarnation that was pleading for help. Why did he need to cross his own timestream? Why did he get extremely thirsty?

Bill returned and put both the drinks down on the table authoritatively.

"Now do you want a burger or not?"


End file.
